Azure Identity (Java)

Authenticate Java applications with Azure services using Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD).

Installation

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.azure</groupId>
    <artifactId>azure-identity</artifactId>
    <version>1.15.0</version>
</dependency>

Key Concepts

Credential	Use Case
DefaultAzureCredential	Recommended - Works in dev and production
ManagedIdentityCredential	Azure-hosted apps (App Service, Functions, VMs)
EnvironmentCredential	CI/CD pipelines with env vars
ClientSecretCredential	Service principals with secret
ClientCertificateCredential	Service principals with certificate
AzureCliCredential	Local dev using az login
InteractiveBrowserCredential	Interactive login flow
DeviceCodeCredential	Headless device authentication

DefaultAzureCredential (Recommended)

The DefaultAzureCredential tries multiple authentication methods in order:

1. Environment variables
2. Workload Identity
3. Managed Identity
4. Azure CLI
5. Azure PowerShell
6. Azure Developer CLI

import com.azure.identity.DefaultAzureCredential;
import com.azure.identity.DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder;

// Simple usage
DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder().build();

// Use with any Azure client
BlobServiceClient blobClient = new BlobServiceClientBuilder()
    .endpoint("https://<storage-account>.blob.core.windows.net")
    .credential(credential)
    .buildClient();

KeyClient keyClient = new KeyClientBuilder()
    .vaultUrl("https://<vault-name>.vault.azure.net")
    .credential(credential)
    .buildClient();

Configure DefaultAzureCredential

DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
    .managedIdentityClientId("<user-assigned-identity-client-id>")  // For user-assigned MI
    .tenantId("<tenant-id>")                                        // Limit to specific tenant
    .excludeEnvironmentCredential()                                 // Skip env vars
    .excludeAzureCliCredential()                                    // Skip Azure CLI
    .build();

Managed Identity

For Azure-hosted applications (App Service, Functions, AKS, VMs).

import com.azure.identity.ManagedIdentityCredential;
import com.azure.identity.ManagedIdentityCredentialBuilder;

// System-assigned managed identity
ManagedIdentityCredential credential = new ManagedIdentityCredentialBuilder()
    .build();

// User-assigned managed identity (by client ID)
ManagedIdentityCredential credential = new ManagedIdentityCredentialBuilder()
    .clientId("<user-assigned-client-id>")
    .build();

// User-assigned managed identity (by resource ID)
ManagedIdentityCredential credential = new ManagedIdentityCredentialBuilder()
    .resourceId("/subscriptions/<sub>/resourceGroups/<rg>/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/<name>")
    .build();

Service Principal with Secret

import com.azure.identity.ClientSecretCredential;
import com.azure.identity.ClientSecretCredentialBuilder;

ClientSecretCredential credential = new ClientSecretCredentialBuilder()
    .tenantId("<tenant-id>")
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .clientSecret("<client-secret>")
    .build();

Service Principal with Certificate

import com.azure.identity.ClientCertificateCredential;
import com.azure.identity.ClientCertificateCredentialBuilder;

// From PEM file
ClientCertificateCredential credential = new ClientCertificateCredentialBuilder()
    .tenantId("<tenant-id>")
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .pemCertificate("<path-to-cert.pem>")
    .build();

// From PFX file with password
ClientCertificateCredential credential = new ClientCertificateCredentialBuilder()
    .tenantId("<tenant-id>")
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .pfxCertificate("<path-to-cert.pfx>", "<pfx-password>")
    .build();

// Send certificate chain for SNI
ClientCertificateCredential credential = new ClientCertificateCredentialBuilder()
    .tenantId("<tenant-id>")
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .pemCertificate("<path-to-cert.pem>")
    .sendCertificateChain(true)
    .build();

Environment Credential

Reads credentials from environment variables.

import com.azure.identity.EnvironmentCredential;
import com.azure.identity.EnvironmentCredentialBuilder;

EnvironmentCredential credential = new EnvironmentCredentialBuilder().build();

Required Environment Variables

For service principal with secret:

AZURE_TENANT_ID=<tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<client-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret>

For service principal with certificate:

AZURE_TENANT_ID=<tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<client-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PATH=/path/to/cert.pem
AZURE_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD=<optional-password>

For username/password:

AZURE_TENANT_ID=<tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<client-id>
AZURE_USERNAME=<username>
AZURE_PASSWORD=<password>

Azure CLI Credential

For local development using az login.

import com.azure.identity.AzureCliCredential;
import com.azure.identity.AzureCliCredentialBuilder;

AzureCliCredential credential = new AzureCliCredentialBuilder()
    .tenantId("<tenant-id>")  // Optional: specific tenant
    .build();

Interactive Browser

For desktop applications requiring user login.

import com.azure.identity.InteractiveBrowserCredential;
import com.azure.identity.InteractiveBrowserCredentialBuilder;

InteractiveBrowserCredential credential = new InteractiveBrowserCredentialBuilder()
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .redirectUrl("http://localhost:8080")  // Must match app registration
    .build();

Device Code

For headless devices (IoT, CLI tools).

import com.azure.identity.DeviceCodeCredential;
import com.azure.identity.DeviceCodeCredentialBuilder;

DeviceCodeCredential credential = new DeviceCodeCredentialBuilder()
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .challengeConsumer(challenge -> {
        // Display to user
        System.out.println(challenge.getMessage());
    })
    .build();

Chained Credential

Create custom authentication chains.

import com.azure.identity.ChainedTokenCredential;
import com.azure.identity.ChainedTokenCredentialBuilder;

ChainedTokenCredential credential = new ChainedTokenCredentialBuilder()
    .addFirst(new ManagedIdentityCredentialBuilder().build())
    .addLast(new AzureCliCredentialBuilder().build())
    .build();

Workload Identity (AKS)

For Azure Kubernetes Service with workload identity.

import com.azure.identity.WorkloadIdentityCredential;
import com.azure.identity.WorkloadIdentityCredentialBuilder;

// Reads from AZURE_TENANT_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_ID, AZURE_FEDERATED_TOKEN_FILE
WorkloadIdentityCredential credential = new WorkloadIdentityCredentialBuilder().build();

// Or explicit configuration
WorkloadIdentityCredential credential = new WorkloadIdentityCredentialBuilder()
    .tenantId("<tenant-id>")
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .tokenFilePath("/var/run/secrets/azure/tokens/azure-identity-token")
    .build();

Token Caching

Enable persistent token caching for better performance.

// Enable token caching (in-memory by default)
DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
    .enableAccountIdentifierLogging()
    .build();

// With shared token cache (for multi-credential scenarios)
SharedTokenCacheCredential credential = new SharedTokenCacheCredentialBuilder()
    .clientId("<client-id>")
    .build();

Sovereign Clouds

import com.azure.identity.AzureAuthorityHosts;

// Azure Government
DefaultAzureCredential govCredential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
    .authorityHost(AzureAuthorityHosts.AZURE_GOVERNMENT)
    .build();

// Azure China
DefaultAzureCredential chinaCredential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
    .authorityHost(AzureAuthorityHosts.AZURE_CHINA)
    .build();

Error Handling

import com.azure.identity.CredentialUnavailableException;
import com.azure.core.exception.ClientAuthenticationException;

try {
    DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder().build();
    AccessToken token = credential.getToken(new TokenRequestContext()
        .addScopes("https://management.azure.com/.default"));
} catch (CredentialUnavailableException e) {
    // No credential could authenticate
    System.out.println("Authentication failed: " + e.getMessage());
} catch (ClientAuthenticationException e) {
    // Authentication error (wrong credentials, expired, etc.)
    System.out.println("Auth error: " + e.getMessage());
}

Logging

Enable authentication logging for debugging.

// Via environment variable
// AZURE_LOG_LEVEL=verbose

// Or programmatically
DefaultAzureCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
    .enableAccountIdentifierLogging()  // Log account info
    .build();

Environment Variables

# DefaultAzureCredential configuration
AZURE_TENANT_ID=<tenant-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<client-id>
AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret>

# Managed Identity
AZURE_CLIENT_ID=<user-assigned-mi-client-id>

# Workload Identity (AKS)
AZURE_FEDERATED_TOKEN_FILE=/var/run/secrets/azure/tokens/azure-identity-token

# Logging
AZURE_LOG_LEVEL=verbose

# Authority host
AZURE_AUTHORITY_HOST=https://login.microsoftonline.com/

Best Practices

1. Use DefaultAzureCredential - Works seamlessly from dev to production
2. Managed Identity in Production - No secrets to manage, automatic rotation
3. Azure CLI for Local Dev - Run az login before running your app
4. Least Privilege - Grant only required permissions to service principals
5. Token Caching - Enabled by default, reduces auth round-trips
6. Environment Variables - Use for CI/CD, not hardcoded secrets

Credential Selection Matrix

Environment	Recommended Credential
Local Development	DefaultAzureCredential (uses Azure CLI)
Azure App Service	DefaultAzureCredential (uses Managed Identity)
Azure Functions	DefaultAzureCredential (uses Managed Identity)
Azure Kubernetes Service	WorkloadIdentityCredential
Azure VMs	DefaultAzureCredential (uses Managed Identity)
CI/CD Pipeline	EnvironmentCredential
Desktop App	InteractiveBrowserCredential
CLI Tool	DeviceCodeCredential

Trigger Phrases

• "Azure authentication Java", "DefaultAzureCredential Java"
• "managed identity Java", "service principal Java"
• "Azure login Java", "Azure credentials Java"
• "AZURE_CLIENT_ID", "AZURE_TENANT_ID"